With the end in sight, it's a time for reflection and whether all the time and money has really been worth it? As always with project bikes, the beginning is the easy part - lots of ideas, screen grabs, a combination of boxes and bubble wrapped ebay 'bargains' and not nearly enough money - oh and it'll be finished in 4 weeks - 6 weeks tops just in time for Spring, definitely. Well, good intentions and all that, it didn't quite work out like that or go quite according to masterplan but having said that, with it coming up to it's one year anniversary since the S4R since last saw the road, it is now looking like a proper motorcycle again. So what happened since July and why is it still not finished.

EXHAUSTS
As previously mentioned, the standard exhaust positioning didn't look right with the MV seat unit as well as protruding way too far past the back end. So out came the angle grinder and the nicely polished termi pipework was re-angled upwards to line up with the angle of the seat unit. The new positioning of the cans meant that the seat lock was completely obscured so this was cut off completely. A new cable release was sourced and was repositioned inside the airbox - very tidy!

The number plate bracket needs to fabricated and due to the repositioning of the pipes, the standard size number plate will no longer fit in the space. Hopefully, the number plate won't be silly size and I won't annoy the boyz in blue (too much). I've always tried to keep the standard or close to standard number plates on my bikes as I can't be doing with the unwanted attention - the non-legal pipes and dark visor most probably don't help either. As yet (touch wood), I've not been stopped and that is with everyday London riding

COMPUTER REPLACEMENT & DIGITAL DASH
The FIM Ultimap U59 computer arrived via Sigma Performance (the official UK importers) and was duly installed. Neil Spalding (of Sigma) kindly came down to help with the install and to check that everything was as it should be. Dave also invested in some fancy Ducati dodahwhatsit software that allows you to adjust the fuel maps, timing, rev limit and the temperature of your combi boiler if you so wish. The long and the short of it was that it did exactly what it said on the tin and disabled the immobiliser as well as allowing us to increase the rev limit - for now. When it's on the dyno, I'm sure it will be a lot more useful.

The Translogic dash has been fitted and looks really tidy. I think that it really suits the head unit and looks like it has been designed with that in mind. It has not been connected as yet so I haven't seen how pretty it looks all it up so I do have that to look forward to. I understand that it does have lots of toys and readouts to play with though with a nice blue glow (like the new VW's, I guess).

SEAT UNIT
The seat and MV hump has been recovered in red alcantara courtesy of Glyn from the Ducati Sporting Club (DSC). I toyed with the idea of vinyl and other exotic materials but went for the alcantara especially after finding such a close match to the Candy red paintwork. Rain and all year riding has ruined the alcantara seat on my 996 but seeming as this bike isn't likely to be seeing any salted roads in the near future, it seemed the right option. Yes, a bit tarty and uber expensive material but I think we passed the point of restraint a few months ago!

CLIP-ONS ARRANGEMENT
This whole area was the most problematic. In solving one problem, another reared it's ugly head but it has finally been solved with a combination of 996 bits, some custom bracketry and a few nights of head scratching. Due to the clip-on length, the choke lever on the Monster handle bar has been replaced by the fast idle handlebar button from a 996. The left clip-on now has a lap timer button so more work is needed to get the turn signals to fit but it's not quite solved yet. The mounting points for the discarded handlebars have been covered up a small plate that will eventually house a digital clock of some kind - the only function that the dash does not have! I guess the time of day is not a priority for wannabee racers.

RADIATOR
The pics of the bike show it with a radiator as this will be replaced by a custom jobbie that will not look as intrusive. After a lot of e-mailing and a trip by Stewart (Capo) from the UKMOC to Pace radiators, they have agreed to make a prototype radiator for the bike. The initial design will reduce the width of the radiator from 330mm to 270mm but increase the depth from 22mm to 28mm. While this does not seem a dramatic change, it is approximately the width of the header tanks that are on the existing radiator. This means that the capacity is slightly reduced but we feel that with a less than 5% reduction in radiator size will not have an adverse effect on the bike temperature. I rarely hear the fans cut in on the S4R so assume that the radiator has a bit of extra capacity built-in. The fans are likely to be replaced by slimmer SPAL versions which will allow the radiator to be angled back slightly to allow for the extra depth capacity. This will be tested of course and hopefully if it works out, Pace will offer it as one of their products. I have been very impressed with their professionalism and how accommodating they have been throughout this design process - they could have just said, sorry, not enough money in this but to their credit, they have listened and hopefully we will have a bespoke item on the bike within the next 2-3 weeks.

CARBON BITS
The front and rear chainguards have been fitted. The front looks great (as great as chainguards can go) but the rear looks too wide for the chain - this will be trimmed accordingly by the 'Carbon Man'.

The swingarm also had a clearance problem - the left rear of boots rubs on the trellis part of the swingarm and so scratches the paintwork. Mr Carbon then fabricated a small pice that wraps around that one piece of trellis on the swingarm - very pukka, dontcha fink?

LAST BITS
The radiator is now the final major piece in this jigsaw so we will wait for that to be completed. The road legal bits - number plate brackets, mirror brackets and front turn indicators all need to be sorted. Finally, the piece de resistance that no self respecting Moto GP Streetfighter should be without - the wheel stripes need to be added. I will need to source the correct shade of red that matches the Candy red paintwork which is proving quite a tricky task - failing that either silver or white will be the way go.

Again, if you've got this far listening to my waffle, then give yourself a pat on the back. If you have read this with a partner or a loved one, give each other a pat on the back - it's nice to be affectionate every once in a while. As a final thought, I think that the only regret on this project is that the time and effort (not to mention the finances) that has gone into this project, means that all the exotic bits will never get used as they were intended. Lap timers, quick shifters, carbon wheels, radial brakes etc, etc should be thrashed around a race track but unfortunately, the bike has become more of a show bike / summer toy than a race tool. It was never my intention to have it like this but even though I usually ride my bikes in all weathers, I think it would be bordering on the criminal to expose this bike to the rigours of a British Winter. A shame but I still have my 996 as my Winter hack.

Laters all